Ryan Thomas: "I've contemplated a lot of times quitting." Photo / Photosport
Australia v All Whites – 9.45pm (NZT), Friday
On many occasions over the last few years, Ryan Thomas had given up on an All Whites return.
He had resigned himself to never wearing the silver fern again, as that goal just seemed too far away. In his darkest times – as the constant cycle of injury and rehabilitation became too much – he considered pulling the pin on football altogether, such was the mental and physical toll.
For that reason, the 30-year-old midfielder’s appearance against the Socceroos in Canberra tomorrow night will be one of the most celebrated comebacks in the modern era of New Zealand football, almost six years on from his last international match in November 2019.
“I’ve had a few conversations with [coach Darren Bazeley] where I basically said straight to him, ‘I don’t see myself putting the shirt on again’,” Thomas said from Canberra yesterday.
”That wasn’t because I didn’t want to, or I didn’t feel the need to, but I just couldn’t see [it]. I wasn’t playing for my club, I couldn’t see myself putting the extra load on my body. That hurt me quite a lot.”
Thomas was a genuine prodigy. He was established in the PEC Zwolle team as a teenager, with his name in lights in the Netherlands when he scored two goals in a shock 5-1 defeat of Ajax in the 2014 Dutch Cup final.
He made his All Whites debut just after his 19th birthday and was soon a regular. He impressed at the 2017 Fifa Confederations Cup and was probably the best performer across the two legs against Peru in the World Cup qualification playoff later that year. By the start of the 2018-19 season, aged 23, the world was at his feet as he secured a move to Dutch giants PSV Eindhoven, for a reported $5 million.
But instead of vying for the Eredivisie title – and facing Barcelona, Inter Milan and Tottenham in the UEFA Champions League that season – Thomas spent that entire first campaign on the sideline, after rupturing his ACL in his first week of training.
He started to establish himself towards the end of the following season, with nine starts in 13 matches, before more issues. Injuries then took him out of contention for 17 matches in the 2020-21 season before the cruellest blow, as another knee problem ended the subsequent campaign in October 2021.
“It was tough,” said Thomas. “I’ve contemplated a lot of times quitting; just thinking, I don’t see the point anymore. There was a lot of tears shed, I’ve had a lot of talks with my wife about ‘What’s the plan, what do you think?’”
His spouse was a rock, but Thomas admits the constant setbacks were a massive mental strain. A breakthrough came three years ago, when it was diagnosed that his kneecaps were sitting too high in their joints.
“It’s not really common, but the specialist I went to see in London, he has done it a few times,” said Thomas.
The operation to reset it was gruesome – “[they] break your shin bone, pull the patella tendon down and with two screws set it on the shin bone, where it’s supposed to be” – but ultimately successful.
It took a year to adjust – “it changes the way you run, how your muscles work, your hamstrings, your quads, your hips ... I had a lot of niggles” – but he has felt free and strong since the start of this year.
“I’ve had no problems whatsoever, so my knees are completely fine. I’m where I should have been when I was 22.”
That led to a phone conversation with Bazeley six weeks ago, to declare his availability for this trip.
“When I told him, he was like, ‘Oh shit, really?,” recalled Thomas. “He was quite surprised.”
Bazeley had anticipated that Thomas would opt to return next month, when the All Whites will play two matches in Europe, but the lure of a transtasman battle was a big factor.
“I’ve never played against Australia,” said Thomas. “So I want to feel that, especially in the national team. That was a driving reason.”
He is happy back at PEC Zwolle, where he returned in 2023 and is now captain. He completed a full match in March – the first time he had played 90 minutes since December 2023 – and has played in Zwolle’s three games this season.
He has enjoyed catching up with old teammates, almost all of whom he hasn’t seen face to face since 2019, and introducing himself to new ones. Most of all, he is loving wearing the silver fern again, with an eye to next year’s World Cup.
“It’s not exactly how I had planned, but now that I’m fit, it’s obviously great – if all goes well - that I can hopefully be a part of that.
“I’m really happy to be part of the group again and being part of a group of guys from New Zealand [that can hopefully] create some history again, like teams in the past.”
Michael Burgess has been a sports journalist for the New Zealand Herald since 2005, covering the Olympics, Fifa World Cups, and America’s Cup campaigns. He is a co-host of the Big League podcast.